"I don't know, sir," answered Walter; "but I should think when Cain killed Abel."
"It was long before that. Soon after Eve had persuaded her husband to partake with her of the fruit of the forbidden tree, she heard God calling,—
"'Adam, hast thou eaten of the tree whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldst not eat?'
"And he said, 'The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, end I did eat.'
"In this reply, he not only endeavored to shield himself from responsibility by throwing the blame upon his wife, but he virtually reproached God—'the woman whom thou gavest me.' 'If I had been alone, I never should have done it; but she tempted me, and I could not resist.'
"And the Lord God said unto the woman, 'What is this that thou hast done?'
"And the woman said, 'The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.'
"Neither would she bear the blame, but cast it upon another. How much better would it have been for them to cast themselves down at the feet of their Maker, and confess their guilt! How unkind for Adam not to try to shield his wife! But such were the early fruits of sin. No doubt after this, there were many unkind words and feelings between the once happy pair.
"The next occasion of quarrelling which is recorded in Scripture is the melancholy story of Cain and Abel. The dreadful plague of sin, which they had inherited from their parents, had sprung up in their own hearts, and in Cain it yielded bitter fruit, bringing misery and death into their household."
"Who can doubt," remarked Mrs. Dermott, "that the fall brought mankind into a state of sin and misery when he looks around and realizes that but for sin there would be no wars, no armies, no hospitals?"